GENDER CONSTRUCTION IN PESANTREN IN JOHOR (MALAYSIA) AND CENTRAL JAVA (INDONESIA)

No. 2 Juni 2010 VOLUME 22 Halaman?Xi-141 GENDER CONSTRUCTION IN PESANTREN IN JOHOR (MALAYSIA) AND CENTRAL JAVA (INDONESIA) Tn'Marhaeni PudjiAstuti*...
Author: Arabella Murphy
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No. 2 Juni 2010

VOLUME 22

Halaman?Xi-141

GENDER CONSTRUCTION IN PESANTREN IN JOHOR (MALAYSIA) AND CENTRAL JAVA (INDONESIA) Tn'Marhaeni PudjiAstuti* ABSTRACT This article investigatesgender construction in Islamic boardingschools or 'pesantrs3n' b n a m q ~ , Indonesia(A-lslah and Al-Ashor) and Johor, Malaysia (Mahad and Marsah). It was found that despite their different countries and customs, the schools in lndonesia and Malaysia show some similarities, especially in terms ofthe teaching of Islamic jurisprudence and their perceptions of the rights of men and women as explained in the Qur'an. However,they differ, especially in terms of the implementation of these in their daily lives. In Johor, Malaysia, men are responsible for activities outside of the households whereas women am in charge of the domestic chores. In Semarang, Indonesia, however, women, despite their household responsibilities, can also work outside. In addition, in terms of pdygamy, most peopte in Johor suppot it as long as it does not break any refigious laws. Key Words: gender construction, nature concept, Islamic boarding school

ABSTRAK Artikel ini rnengalaborasi hasil penelitii di pesantren yang ada di Johor, yakni Maahad dm Pesantren Al-lslah (pond& psmtren putri) dan A-Ashor (pond& h t r e n d e r n campuran). Konstruksi gender di kedua pesantrenyang berbeda negara dan kebiasaan ini ternpat hampir sama. artinya untuk hal-ha1yang tsrkait dengan ajaran-ajaran Fikih Islam dan hak-hak pemmpuan dan Iakilaki menurut A-Qur'an persepsi mereka sama. Namun, dalam implementasi kehidupan sehari-hari ditemui bebrapa perbedaanantara lain persepsi mengenai tugas pembagian perm sosial antara lakilaki dan perempwn di J o bperan w i a l di Iuar rurnah tetap menjadi tanggunglawab suami dan tidak menekankanatau para perempuan untuk bekerja di luar rumah. Demrkian pula untuk suami untuk berbqp;9i tugas rumah la Pada umumrryasudah t e r M dan sebagal ibu rumah tmgga juga belcerja di luar k adalah ketika dibahas masalah poligarni, Johor

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Kata Kumi: konstmksigender, kunseptaodntt* pond& pasantran

* SW Pengajar Jurusan SosiCogidan Antropologi, Fakultas llmu Sasrlal,Universitas NegeriSemarang

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Talking about women, one cannot ignore tfie sodo-cultural context where they live in and what kind of society they have been brought up in (unfortunately, these are often neglected). Women cannot also be separated from their heterogeneity as they, indeed, vary in terms of education, culture, knowledge, life experiences, social life, and also environment, which form them. Similarly, discussions around Muslim women should also regard these characteristics plus one more category that is religion. he education system they have is also very specific since some of them get their education from Pesanibn(Traditional Islamic BoardingSchool) which is different from the general education system. Women's social status in lslamicperspective can be approached either textually or contextually where textually means analyzingand explaining women's status by considering normative perspectives as written in Al-Qur'an and the opinions asserted by ulamas (ahli fiqh) who interpreted the normative teachings told byAllah SWT in Al-Qur'an, and contextually means analyzing the background of the revelation of Ayats (verses) of ACQuJan, while also analyzing the sodepolical and sociocultural context before finally interpretingthe verses. In Islam, these two approaches are usually conducted by Ulamas (clerics) so that the ~nterpmtations of AMur'an depend on what the ulamas believe is right. Contextualapproachto Al-Qur'an normative explanations as suggested by some Muslim clerics is one of several attempts to analyze and elicit answers to the needs of the society which is facing social, economic, cultural and technological challenges. It indicates demands to creatively develop lslamicteachings while still upholding Al-Qur'an in order to answer the challenges and problems faced by the society. Actually, the verses in the Qur'an were revealed in certain socio-historical contexts; therefore the interpretations should be based on those contexts. When ages and conditions change, the interpretations and explanations .

should change too. Some of the verses in the Qur'an which mention women have to be interpreted in conformity with their sociohistorical background. If nowadays there are lots of changes that have pushed women to change, the analytical framework used to interpret Al-Qur'an should also be modified, instead of using the same framework for every context. This is very important considering that there seems to be marginalization of women existence in the interpretationof ACQur'an. Islam has proven itself to have been able to set women free. However, in the next stage of its development, there is an impression of stagnancy or even backward movement. One of the reasons is that one often gives meaning to the verses without considering their historical context and imposes it on others as a set of rules and moral guidance to be implemented universally. It is important to bear in mind that when Al-Qur'an gives answers to solve specific concrete problems and decrees some rules, it explicitly or implicitly gives reasons behindthose answers. By consideringthe reasons mentioned and the context carefully, one can obtain its foundations or principles which must be taken as dues to imphmmntations. It can thus be conduded that there are very significant interactions betweenthe revelationof a verse and the conditions and changes happeninginthe society. The question is whether or not there is progress achieved rdated to the status and roles of women accordingto the laws derived by some ulamas from Al-Qur'an. Stressing on the implementationof certain verses basing only on the text, without payirrg attention to the context and the changes that have happened, means ignoring sadal idealsand moral values implied. So, Al-Qur'an should be interpreted in a dialogicalway betweentext and context. It is very interestingto study the peoplewho act as transformation agents from a religious community such as traditional Islamic Boarding Schools. So, not only should one know how the sanMs (studenSs of a Pesanfren) live and

Td Marhaeni Pu#iAsfutl, Gender Consttwfionin I:Jesantmin Johar(Wayeia) and Gentralkva

make such aban study how a system the fransfomtion made by its own agents. ~~,digcourses with gender equatii smm -as a center of religbus education-mto beveryrmportant. Insodeties them are mixed processes betwean social life and fu

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